Marron drummed her fingers impatiently against the table as she went over the plans for Jinzouningen Juusan-gou for the third time. She couldn't concentrate on the intricate schematics as well as she should and it was frustrating her. She just couldn't seem to get her mind off of worrying about Trunks. Coupled with the disbelief that he had just left her behind like that. She'd made quite the scene too after he flew off, twisting and fighting against Yamucha like a wildcat as he'd held her Tenka bound so she couldn't go after Trunks. It hadn't been until he'd quietly pointed out to her that Trunks was more vulnerable and prone to getting hurt with her along that she had finally given up and reluctantly agreed to stay and work on the plans with Bulma. She might have given in…but it didn't mean she had to like it.

"You can stop that any time," Bulma told her, raising her eyes from the other two sets of schematics. Marron jerked her hand back guiltily from where she she'd been tapping her fingernails against the tabletop.

"Sorry," she mumbled, lowering her eyes. She and Bulma had been working in an awkward silence for the last three quarters of an hour, the events of the night before still hanging over them like a cloud. She pushed her glasses back up her nose and forced herself to focus on the task at hand, even as her mind wandered back to Trunks again. Absently she chewed at her fingernail as her eyes slid over the lines and numbers that made up the Jinzouningen's blueprint. Normally she would be able to tell what every circuit did, what every wire and microchip was for, now her eyes only saw lines and patterns. She gritted her teeth in frustration. Trunks was counting on her to find a weakness…a weakness that at least Juusan-gou didn't seem to have. She winced as she bit down too hard on her cuticle, making it bleed. Sticking her finger in her mouth she sucked on the thin trail of blood that leaked from the torn skin. She glanced up at Bulma and found the other woman watching her, a tired expression on her face.

"He'll be all right…you know that," Bulma told her quietly. Marron shrugged and nodded vaguely.

"I know…it's just—" she started.

"You feel helpless just sitting here when there must be something you could do. Not to mention not knowing what's going on," Bulma finished for her. "Trust me, I've been there, and I've been there before you were even born so I think I know how you feel," Bulma told her with a small laugh.

"Then how do you stay so calm?" Marron questioned plaintively, still gnawing on her cuticle.

"Who said I was calm? I'm a nervous wreck!" Bulma laughed, spreading her hands wide and earning a wan smile from her blonde companion. "Look Marron…all you can do is wait. And have faith that they will prevail and come back. You have to believe in Trunks, and Gohan, and Kuririn… That's the only thing you can do for them," Bulma told her gently, and reaching across the table pulled Marron's hand away from her mouth before she chewed the ends of her fingers off in worry, giving her hand a quick squeeze before letting go. Marron's expression hardened into one of determination.

"It's not the only thing," Marron said, turning back to Juusan-gou's plans, "I can find a way for them to beat these things."

"You mean WE," Bulma smiled at her, and scooted her chair closer so they could look over all three plans together at the same time. Marron returned the blue haired woman's smile gratefully. She sensed the tension between them easing and felt she had to get her regret for the night before off her chest.

"By the way I'm so terribly sorry about what happened last night Bulma-san…" Marron began before Bulma waved her hand, cutting her off.

"Forgotten," Bulma told her.

"Was he…very upset?" Marron asked hesitantly. Bulma's blue eyes met hers only briefly before she turned back to the plans.

"He knew," she murmured, "all this time…he knew Trunks wasn't his son and he never said a word. Just loved him and raised him like his own. He really is a remarkable man, Marron-chan. No matter what anyone thinks or says," Bulma said, wiping moisture from the corner of her eye. "Vegeta would never have done the same. I know I made the right choice." Marron put her arm around the older woman's shoulder and squeezed it lightly. Bulma covered Marron's hand with hers, accepting the gesture of friendship and compassion with one of her own.

"Now let's get back to work and find a way to stop these things, ne? There'll be time enough for sentimentality when the world is safe again. Those Jinzouningen don't know what they're in for with TWO beautiful geniuses on the case!" Bulma said confidently.

"Right!"

Trunks dropped from the sky toward the two unaware Jinzouningen like a hawk in a dive. Selecting the larger of the two as his target he drew his sword, arcing it down in a deathblow that should split the hulking android in two just like it had Furiza.

"HYAAAAAAA!" he screamed, his aura flaring up around him at the last second. He waited eagerly for the slight tug of resistance as his sword parted synthetic flesh and metal skeleton, but it didn't come. Instead his downward momentum was halted with a jolt as Juuyon-gou turned with surprising speed, catching the blade of Trunks' broadsword between his palms. Data flashed across the surface of the android's eyes as he regarded Trunks stoically and then with a brief snapping motion flung him away like a fly.

Righting himself in the air, Trunks' feet barely touched the ground before he renewed the attack, flying in low with a wicked upwards slice of his sword only to have the huge android adroitly spring away turning a lethal slash into a minor scratch of Juuyon-gou's gray skin. Narrowing his eyes Trunks studied his silent impassive opponent a moment, looking for any opening. So far his first two attacks with the sword had failed, the Jinzouningen was faster than he looked. Or perhaps after thirteen years of peace he was just out of practice. He doubted it. Trunks felt the welcome call of his Saiyajin blood to battle flow over him. He may wish fervently for peace, but the Saiyajin -the Vegeta- in him was always prepared for this. Another world to liberate, another Jinzouningen threat…it was too familiar…too much like coming home, and with another kiai yell Trunks launched himself back at Juuyon-gou with deadly intent.

"This makes no sense…why on Kami's green earth would Gero design this model to hold three power cells and three CPU's, but not install them? That's what's got me stumped," Bulma leaned back in her chair with a frown, gesturing to the blueprint of Juusan-gou with her chin. "Why didn't he design the other two the same way?"

Marron took her glasses off and rubbed the bridge of her nose. They could stare at these plans until they were blue in the face and would be no closer to finding a weakness. The pressure of having to find one wasn't helping, and she shrugged her shoulders weakly.

"And one other thing…these three are numbered lower than Juunana-gou and Juuhachi-gou, which would stand to reason that they were at least designed before Gero built Juunana and Juuhachi since he seemed to abandon truly metal contructs in favor of cyborgs," Bulma went on, missing the slight narrowing of Marron's eyes at the mention of her mother and uncle being 'built' like machines, rather than the enhanced humans that they were.

"So? What's your point?" Marron asked, squinting at the analysis she was running on her laptop intently.

"It's not really a point…I just wonder why if Gero went to all the trouble of building these three...why didn't he activate them? We never saw these Jinzouningen until after Cell," Bulma wondered, "I can't imagine he'd build them for nothing."

"Hmmmm…" Marron said her brow furrowed.

"What hmm? If you have a theory…"

"I can only think that perhaps it was because they were unfinished. I know the Bulma I worked for had half and three quarters completed projects lying around all over. I'm guilty of starting more projects than I can conceivably finish myself. So I thought perhaps they were never activated before, because they weren't finished."

"There's a hole in that theory," Bulma said. Marron nodded in agreement.

"Dr. Gero has been dead for years…if they were unfinished, then who finished them?"

"Precisely. But that's neither here nor there. The problem is finding a weakness, and as far as I can see, none of them have one. In fact this Juusan-gou is one of the most complex examples of a metal Jinzouningen construct that I have ever seen. He blows Juuroku-gou away," Bulma pondered softly, her eyes far away as she remembered running the code of Juuroku-gou's brain through the computer with her father back at Capsule Corp. Those were the days…

"Shit!" Marron hissed in impatience as she waited for her poor overworked computer to catch up with her own brain.

"What is it?"

"Oh it's nothing. My computer has gotten so slow. I need to upgrade the hardware on it so it will run faster and better, but I haven't had the time," Marron told Bulma absently. Realization dawned in her eyes of what she had said the same moment as Bulma and the two scientists' eyes met in epiphany.

"Upgrade!" they chorused excited, and bent their heads back to the plans with new purpose. Looking for an indication that Juusan-gou was built with the intent to be upgraded. That would be the only reason for him to have the unused receptacles in his design. Ten minutes later they were back where they started.

"I take back what I said. This is the worst design I have ever seen…look at where those power cells and CPU's go! How is anyone supposed to get new components in there to upgrade it anyway? I don't see any access ports," Bulma complained loudly.

"What in the hell was Gero thinking?"

'What the hell was Bulma thinking?' Kuririn thought as he barely evaded another volley of ki blasts the Jinzouningen designated Juugo-gou fired down on him. Singeing the back of his dogi nicely as he leapt out of the way.

It wasn't bad enough he somehow drew the lot of fighting the diminutive purple-skinned android; but he also got tapped to try and collect energy via Marron's invention, the jinkouseki. So far he hadn't had any luck with it either, Bulma's hasty instructions hadn't sunk in well as he'd been too overwhelmed with things -the appearance of his other world daughter, Trunks being a Super Saiyajin, the impending battle- to pay that close of attention. It was hard enough fighting the little android, he was annoyingly zippy, but trying to work the energy collection device, to stand there and LET Juugo-gou shoot him…it just went a little too much against Kuririn's healthy sense of self preservation.

Back flipping out of range, Kuririn quickly yanked the jinkouseki from his hand. He'd been at a disadvantage while wearing it. He couldn't fire a Kienzan with Marron's device on his right hand, so he stuffed it into his shirt. When they got this mess straightened out he'd be more than happy to fire energy at Bulma while she held the device if that's what it took. Hell…he'd probably enjoy too.

He noticed Juugo-gou taking quick pulls off his ever-present whiskey bottle as he hovered above him. The purple-skinned android was looking over toward where Trunks had Juuyon-gou on the run so to speak with furious swipes of his sword, giving the big android no time to recover between attacks. Juugo-gou held up his hand palm outward intending to fire on Trunks while his back was turned.

"Oh no you don't you little bug!" Kuririn yelled, launching himself into the air and ramming his shoulder into Juugo-gou just as he let the energy blast go, making it miss the intended target by several feet. Kuririn was used to this tactic of the Jinzouningen helping each other out when one might be at risk of losing, and it never failed to really piss him off. While the Jinzouningen had always outnumbered them, Kuririn was confident that he and Gohan could beat any one of the Androids -with the probable exception of Juunana-gou and Juuhachi-gou- if they could just catch them alone, one on one…but they never fought alone. Now that they had Trunks along it suddenly became a much fairer fight. And that suited Kuririn just fine.

Recovering Juugo-gou turned to face him with teeth bared, adjusting the dark glasses he wore. The LCD's clearly visible as the little android scanned him. He looked down at his now broken whiskey bottle with an almost comical expression of remorse before turning back to Kuririn. Kuririn fisted his hands on his hips, looking pleased.

"Heh! You don't like it much when the tables are turned do ya?" Kuririn scoffed. Methodically, Juugo-gou straightened his long orange overcoat, and resettled his ridiculous green hat on his head. Lulled by watching the little android perform the mundane, and strangely human tasks of adjusting his attire Kuririn was off guard when Juugo-gou suddenly thrust his hands out toward him and let go with an energy blast that caught Kuririn point blank in the chest, sending him flying back through several partially destroyed buildings before he skidded to a stop in a trench carved by his own back.

"Guh! That was dumb…" Kuririn groaned as he picked himself up out of the trench. A tinkling like broken glass caught his attention and he looked down to see the front of his shirt and dogi had been mostly burned away, exposing his chest. Kuririn made a noise of dismay as he watched the remains of Marron's invention fall to the ground in pieces.

"Ut oh…" he muttered.

"When a problem seems overwhelming break it down to manageable components…" Marron muttered to herself under her breath, as she systematically went over the parts list she'd made for the three Jinzouningen. It was tedious, boring work…normally Marron wouldn't mind a bit, but the pressure she and Bulma were under was making her edgy.

"Do you see any part on Juusan-gou's list labeled…MB-I5? Or PO-I4?" Bulma asked from where she was hunched over Juusan's plans, spread out on the floor.

"No," Marron responded tiredly.

"How 'bout…MB-I4 or PO-I5?" Bulma asked hopefully. Marron shook her head. "Well, I found this notation here, that these empty ports would take those parts. What I want to know is, what's so special about those specific part numbers when what he has already installed is a…Multiprocessor One-three." Bulma said scowling. Marron sat up ramrod straight in her chair. "What?" Bulma asked.

"Multi Processor One Three…M P-13. Could the parts your looking for be…MP and then One Four? Not 'I' four?" Marron asked slowly. Bulma's eyes lit up and she bent back to the small hard to read notation on Juusan-gou's plans.

"Hai!" Bulma crowed, "that's it! Marron you are a genius! What am I saying? Of course you are…you worked for me," Bulma clapped her hands happily that even one small modicum of progress in figuring out Juusan-gou's design had been accomplished. Her satisfaction quickly died away however at the strange expression on the young blonde's face. "What is it?" she asked.

"MP-14 and 15 are the multiprocessors for Juuyon-gou and Juugo-gou respectively. It's the same with the power cells. Juusan-gou's ports are designed specifically to take the processors and power units from the other two Jinzouningen," Marron said. She wasn't sure why yet but the discovery was making a sick pool of dread form in her stomach. "Based on where those processors and power cells are you'd have to tear the other two apart to get at them."

"Or destroy them," Bulma said slowly, her mind working over the same train of thought.

"So…if Juusan-gou gets an upgrade at the expense of the other two…" Marron said slowly, "then what does that mean?" Bulma shook her head.

"It means he's a last resort."

Marron and Bulma's heads both swiveled up to hear Yamucha's voice from the doorway. He stood there with his hands clasped on his cane, his expression grave despite his dark glasses.

"Remember Bulma…all the Jinzouningen have a self destruct. Cell used it. You removed it from Juuroku-gou or he would have used it," Yamucha pointed out. Bulma looked back over the plans hurriedly.

"I don't see any specific self destruct here! Not like on Juuroku-gou at all!" Bulma scowled, angry she could have overlooked such an obvious function. Marron was looking as white as a sheet.

"We have to stop them," Marron whispered, cutting into Bulma's tirade. "We can't let Trunks and the others destroy Juuyon-gou and Juugo-gou! We don't know what that upgrade does!" Marron cried, her voice rising. "If he IS a bomb…with three of those power cells…who knows what kind of damage he could do to the planet? Not to mention anyone near him… and that means Trunks!" Marron stood hurriedly heading for the door, pulling her blue CC jacket on over her pink shirt.

"Marron-chan? Where are you going?" Bulma asked.

"To warn them," Marron tossed over her shoulder, until she came up against Yamucha who was still standing in the doorway. "Don't you try to stop me this time," Marron warned him. Yamucha stood there silently, his face impassive.

"No, not this time. He needs you, but don't go alone, take Chaozu with you," Yamucha reached into his pocket, pulling out a small brown bag and handed it to her. "Senzu…I got them from Karin this morning. They might need them." Impulsively, Marron threw her arms around the older man, giving him a brisk hug and whispered thanks before running out into the bright light of the Tenka Courtyard. Chaozu was already waiting for her, standing with Mr. Popo and Dende.

"We need to—" she started, but the ageless former Emperor simply shook his head. Smiling gently at her as Little Trunks and Goten ran up to see what the fuss was about.

"No need. I already know. We're wasting time," Chaozu said, lifting off the ground to head toward the planet below. With a quick nod Marron followed. Ignoring the younger boy's eager questions of where she was going

"How fast can you fly?" she asked Chaozu, and then before he could answer caught him around the waist, tucking the little psychic under her arm like a football before she put on a burst of speed, blasting over the side of the Tenka toward the Earth in a streak.

"Wow!" Little Trunks yelled, running to the edge of the Tenka to look down, Goten on his heels. "She's FAST!" he said admiringly, watching the vapor trail she left behind dissipate. Goten nodded his head eagerly at his best friend and then waved.

"Gambatte yo! Marron-san! Chaozu-san!" he called after them, even though they were long gone.

Thirty miles to the west of Pepper Town all was quiet and still, not a sound or trace of the destruction and subsequent battle that roamed over the remains of the once bustling city. The rural residents of the farming community had no idea what was happening in their city center. To them it was merely another idyllic summer day. To someone with enhanced perception it was an unobtrusive ringside seat to the action.

Perched upon a boulder on a hill overlooking the valley to the east, Juuhachi-gou monitored the fight with interest. She sat as still as a statue, only the wind ruffling her razor cut bobbed hair. Her china blue eyes fixed on the horizon.

They were losing.

Juuyon-gou was already down, the hulking android split in two at last by the one with the unfamiliar power wielding a sword. Juuhachi-gou was apathetic to her brethren's demise. She had formed no opinion of the gray skinned android in the years he had been with them. He was just simply there.

"And now he is not," she murmured to herself. Startling several nearby squirrels that had ventured close to her, lulled into security by her stillness. Her eyes flicked to them momentarily, her expression softening. Squirrels, and birds especially, always brought Juuroku-gou to mind; and the way the huge android, despite being created to destroy life, had cherished it instead. She missed him. Juuyon-gou had been a poor substitute for she and Juunana-gou's former companion. She often wondered what had happened to Juuroku-gou…whether he had been finished off by one of the Z-Warriors, or if Cell had done the job himself after he absorbed her. Perhaps she should ask one of them if they knew someday.

She lifted her head back toward the battle in the east, a tremor moving across her impassive face as she monitored the details of Juugo-gou's fight with Kuririn. This battle wouldn't be as clearly decided as the previous one. Kuririn and the little purple skinned android were evenly matched, in power as well as size. The corners of her mouth turned up in the faintest ghost of a smile when she sensed Kuririn going on the offensive, sending a barrage of those pesky energy disks of his slicing through the air after Juugo-gou. He was really keeping the android on his toes. Juuhachi-gou couldn't help but be mildly impressed. Who would ever have suspected that the small, funny looking, bald headed human would be able to not only hold his own against one of the Jinzouningen, but to actually gain the upper hand. There was more to the little shrimp than met the eye, that was for certain. Although she would never admit it aloud, she rather hoped that Kuririn would win.

She at last turned her attention to the reason she had come to monitor the activity in Pepper Town in the first place. Juusan-gou. She hadn't liked that smirk of his when he'd left to do her brother's bidding. She could tell that he still had the upper hand in the fight against the half-Saiyajin; Son Gohan. Wouldn't it just figure? The two androids she could tolerate were rapidly being destroyed, and the one she despised was winning.

Juuhachi-gou sighed softly. Recently she had found herself secretly wishing every time Juunana-gou sent them off to destroy something that they wouldn't come back. That Kuririn and Son Gohan would finally finish those three off, and she could leave Juunana-gou to his childish games. Or better yet, convince her brother to just live in peace with her. Away from any insipid humans certainly, it was a big planet, there was room enough for everyone. There was no need for the destruction her brother delighted in. Being absorbed by Cell had been a humbling experience for her, one she had reflected upon many times over the last five years, but it had angered Juunana-gou to no end. He was still burning and fuming that Gero had made another Jinzouningen, an ultimate creation that was stronger than they were, he just couldn't let it go.

A low rumble like thunder brought her out of her reverie. The power readings from Pepper Town were increasing dramatically. It seemed that the teenager, Son Gohan was powering up tremendously, as was the stranger. Another half-Saiyajin it seemed. How interesting, she wondered where he had come from? Perhaps her hope of the other Jinzouningen being eliminated would come to pass, and she leaned forward on the boulder in anticipation. She stood and turned to the west with an abrupt motion however, as another power registered with her long-range sensors. It was approaching the battle in a beeline and moving fast.

Her eyes narrowed slightly as she focused her sensors on the approaching fighter, then widened in disbelief. Lifting off the ground Juuhachi-gou hung in the air directly in the flight path of the oncoming person. If what her sensors led her to believe was true, Juuhachi-gou wanted answers.

A twinkle of light was the only visible indication of the fighters approach at first, then the growing jet-engine roar of bukujutsu. Whoever it was, they were using ki to fly. Juuhachi-gou frowned, as the tiny figure quickly grew larger and then pulled up short to avoid barreling into her. There were actually two of them. One she had seen once before, the tiny psychic was of no concern to her and she ignored him as her eyes roamed over the other. Taking in the worn jeans, pink top, blue Capsule Corporation jacket, and long blonde hair before moving up to the girl's face.

To find her own face looking back at her.